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    • Looking back on hope and hardship one month after Tropical Storm Helene
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    Looking back on hope and hardship one month after Tropical Storm Helene

    Online Niel Posted on

    ASHEVILLE – On the morning of Sept. 27, a Fairview woman watched as a home collapsed with her neighbor and three dogs inside.

    She begged a 911 dispatcher to send help.

    Less than 30 minutes earlier, a pharmacist had texted his wife, telling her how much he loved her and their two boys. A search and rescue team found the man’s body buried under debris 11 days later. Floodwaters nearby killed a 7-year-old boy and his two grandparents.

    In McDowell County that same morning, a wall of water tore a young couple apart. The two were engaged to be married. Only one of them survived.

    In Yancey County, landslides and flood waters not only killed residents, but reshaped the landscape. In nearby Spruce Pine in Mitchell County, Helene destroyed the city’s water treatment plant.

    In Asheville, the water system was so badly affected that 160,000 customers were left without running water.

    As Tropical Storm Helene bore into western North Carolina, first responders rushed to rescue anyone they could while residents were evacuated to shelters trying to find a way out that wasn’t blocked by trees fallen down Many evacuees were unsure what, if anything, they would return to after the Swannanoa and French Broad rivers eventually spiked to record levels.

    The power went out. Cell service has been interrupted. The sun came out. Neighbors went outside their homes and checked on each other. Many they gathered around the radios to find out what happened.

    Closed restaurants. Workers lost their jobs. Tourists they were told to stay away.

    So far, Helene has killed almost 100 people in North Carolina. Almost a month later, 41 people are still unaccounted for, according to an October 23 tally from the state Department of Public Safety. That figure will likely continue to rise and fall as the families of the missing continue to mourn an as-yet-uncertain loss.

    In recent weeks, GOVERNOR, the president, VICE and a former president all visited North Carolina to review recovery efforts.

    With the general election less than two weeks away, voters have started lining up at the polls as reporters ask political experts in the area how this tragedy may influence the outcome of the presidential race one way or another.

    However, most people in Asheville do not have running water that they can comfortably drink or bathe in.

    Looking back

    “Tonight is for reflection, sharing our collective grief, remembering those we’ve lost, acknowledging our losses and recognizing how our lives will be forever changed by this event,” Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said at October 22. candlelight vigil honoring the community’s immense loss.

    Meanwhile, the survivors are moving forward in the only ways they know how.

    Some rebuild, while others they live near the debris of the storm. Some move away, while others play football. The neighbors are crying. Friends measure their loss against others who have suffered much worse. Some are simply too young to understand exactly what happened. They will only know the storm they killed their classmates or destroyed their teachers’ houses.

    Then there are those who they are so young they will never remember what happened. They will just read the stories.

    Many of these stories aren’t just about getting lost in the midst of Helene’s devastation, they’re about community coming together in a time of need.

    Nearly a month later, the Citizen Times revisited some of the people its reporters spoke with immediately after the storm. Many of the people we met are finding ways to move forward in the face of uncertainty. Recovery will be a long-term process, one that will not be without immense hardship.

    But not without hope either.

    Jacob Biba is the county surveillance reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Contact him at [email protected].

    Online Niel
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